Blower with adjustable housing



y 0, 38- R'L. PAYNE ET A1. 2,116 539 BLOWER WITH ADJUSTABLE HOUSING Filed Sept. 16, 1935 2 sneet-sneet' 1 INVENTOR. RAY/IO/VD PAM f e BURTON B- 004w- May 10, 1-938. R. PAYNE ET AL 2,116,539

BLOWER WITH ADJUSTABLE HOUSING Filed Sept. 16, 1955 2 Sheets-Shet 2 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented May 10, 1938 STATES nnownn wrrnunms'rsmn nousnvo .Baymond L. PayneandBurton B. Dunn,

Denver, Colo.

Application September 18, 1935, Serial N0. 40,71. 1 Claim. (Cl. 230-433) This invention relates to improvements in centrifugal fans or blowers and has reference more particularly to a blower'intended to be used primarily in connection with heating and ventilating systems,,but which can also be used for other V the air is nearly always circulated. by means of fans or blowers and it is necessary that the blowers must operate as silently as possible, as any noise would be highly objectionable. Another requirement is that the blower must consume as little power as possible so as to keep the cost of operation at a minimum.

Another requir t of such blowers is that they must be so constructed that the discharge outlet can be turned so as to discharge the air upwardly, downwardly, horizontally or at any other angle. t

It is the object of this invention to produce a blowerof the centrifugal type in which all of the requirements above enumerated shall be taken care of and which in addition shall have other desirable features of construction to which atten- J tion will be directed as'the description proceeds.

The blower; which forms the subject of this applicationg'will now be described in detail, and for this purpose reference will be had to the accompanying drawings in which the invention has been illustrated, and in which: I

ing the discharge outlet extending horizontally; Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on line -2. Figure til-e2;

Figure 4 is a side elevation showing-the blower with the discharge outlet extending vertically; 5 is a. section taken on line 5-5, Figure l and shows the shape of the bearing support and also thatof the hearing housing; 7 t Figure 6 is a section taken on line 6-6, Figure 1; g p Figural is a showing an exaggerated case of unparallel end walls; I I

Figure 8 isa section taken on lined-4;. Figure2;and

9 is a section through one 'of the hearings.

In the w 11;. reference numeral Ill designates the impelleror fan housing, including the spirally curved wall ii and the two end walls l2. 7 The end walls are identical in size. and shape,

and are attached'to the edges of the wall H in any approved manner, as by a crimped coneecpurposes. In the fast developing field of air conditioning Figure 1 is a side elevation of the blower showe s is a section taken on line 1-3, Fig;

tion, welding orin any other way. Each end wall is provided with an opening I! and the openings in the two end walls are in axial alinement or in register. The impeller or fan housing is provided with a tangential discharge outlet or opening, ll.

The housing is supported by two members, one at each end. Each of these supports comprises an annular member I5 having, two radial arms it that rest on a supporting surface II. The parts l5 will be referred toilrereinafter as supports, and have their outer surfaces convex with their inner edges projecting inwardly, as shown in Figure 2. q H

Each support is provided on its inner surface with a circular shoulder, lugs, bolts or other suitable means, against which the edge of the plate surrounding the opening I l rests, and which serve as bearings for the housing.

Each support is also'iformed with an annular flange l8 that extends beyond the opening iiand rests against the outside of the corresponding side 'wall.

:nuts are located in the channels and are held against rotation by the flanges of the latter.

When the bars I9 are loosened the fan housing II! can be turned so as tobrlng the discharge outlet ll into any desired angular position. After been shown most clearly in Figure 9, from which it will be seen that two parts of the bearing housing are each provided with an inwardly extending flange 28 whose inner surface is spherical. The cover'M is also provided on its inner sur- Time with two grooves 21 which serveto collect the oil, and from which the oil drops or. flows into the 'sumpin the lower part.

The fan .shaft 28 extends through the bearing housing and carries a'boxlng 29 which is made of brass, bronze or any other suitable material. The boxing is provided on its outer surface with a central annular groove in which is located a coil spring 3| whose ends are connected together to form an endless elastic band. The diameter of the bottom of groove 30 plus twice the diameter of the spring 3| is equal to or very slightly greater than the diameter of the spherical surface on the flange 25. when the bearing is assembled, as shown in Figure 9, the shaft and the boxing will be held in concentric relation with the spherical surface on flange 26 by the action of the spring 3| which is resilient and slightly yieldable, and which can also roll slightly in the groove.

Since the inner surface of the flange 26 is spherical it is evident that the shaft and boxing can have a limited roclnng movement about the center of the spherical surface which permits the angular relation of the shaft and the supports to be varied slightly without producing any objectionable pressure between the shaft and the boxing.

The boxing is provided at each end with a flange 32 so as to provide two grooves, one on each side of the center, for the reception of mixed wool and cotton yarn 33.

The bottom of each of the end grooves has an.

in its movement to the sump.

The reason for employing self-aiming bearings in this blower will now be explained and for this purpose, reference will be had to Figure '7, which shows the fan housing including the spiral outer wall H and the end walls i2, the bearing, whose covers have been designated by numeral 24 and the shaft 28.-

In the construction of the fan housing it is very difficult to'get the end walls absolutely parallel, and since the supports are attached to the end walls and the latter can turn relative to the supports it is evident that the latter will be given a wabbling motion when the housing is turned for tral plate 35 secured to the flange 36 of a hub 31.

The outer wall of the rotor is formed from parallel, transversely curved strips 38 whose ends are connected by rings 39. Since there is nothing new in the construction of the rotor it will not be described in greater detail.

One end of shaft 28 is provided with a pulley 40 having a V-shaped groove. The rim of the pulley is connected with the hub 4| by means of flat spokes 42 that are angularly inclined with respect to the plane of rotation and which function as propellers to urge the air inwardly. This construction of the spokes overcomes or eliminates the resistance that would be oifered by a pulley having spokes of ordinary shape.

The rotor is driven by an electric motor 43, which is provided with a pulley 44 which transmits power to the pulley 40 through the belt 45. The motor is preferably positioned at or near the top of the fan housing as shown in Figure 1. The blower housing may be rotated on its supporting structure to eflect a discharge of air in any desired direction; from the horizontal as shown in Figure 1 to the vertical as illustrated in Figure 4. This angular positioning of the discharge outlet, is usually done at the time of installation, and thereafter it will remain so fixed, the rotatable feature being provided, primarily, as an installation utility. When the blower is installed in the .po'sition shown in Figure 4, a

shorter driving belt 45 may be used if the motor is to be kept near the top of the housing as shown, or the motor may be rotated with the blower and the same belt as shown in Figure 1 can be used in all positions of the blower.

For minor adjustments or tightening of the belt the motor may be moved with reference to the housing along rails on the outer surface thereof, to vary the distance of the motor pulley from the blower pulley as will be explained below.

Two Z-bars 46 and 4'! are secured in spaced parallel relation to the outer surface of 'the spiral wall member Ii as shown in Figures 1 and 2. A base plate 48 is supported-by the Z-bars 46 and 41, whose outer flanges project toward each other; this plate is provided with shoulders that engage the edges of the flanges on the Z-bars to form guides. A clamping plate 49 is located in the space between the outer surface of the wall II and the inside of the flanges of the Z-bars and is secured to the base plate 48'by bolts 50, and

when these bolts are tightened they draw the plates 48 and 49 together and clamp them in position. Since the wall II is spirally curved. it is obvious that when the motor is moved, the distance between the centers of the motor shaft and the fan shaft will be increased or decreased, depending on the direction in which the motor is moved, and this feature is taken advantage of 'for tightening the belt.

Shaft 28 is held against longitudinal movement by two collars 5| (see Figure 2). By hav: ing both of the thrust collars at one end, the shaft and the bearing at the other end can automatically adjust themselves to any variations in the distance due to inaccuracies in the width of the spiral wall II.

Attention is called to the fact that the parts subjected to airflow have been streamlined so as to reduce airresistance to a minimum.

The adjustability of the fan housing so as to bring the discharge opening into any desired angular position relative to a horizontal plane makes is possible to employ this blower or fan in any installation and makes it unnecessary to carry many different forms in stock, as a blower constructed as above described will fit all layouts.

The use of self-alining hearings in a blower whose housing is rotatable about theblower shaft responding side wall, each support having circu- 7 m m. mm 3. wmmm mum m M mm m? M m mmmnw.

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